A cheap haircut in London is pretty hard to come by- unless you know where to look! So if you want to find out how to get a cheap haircut in London, you’ve come to the right place.
Haircuts at top salons can set you back well over £100, with colour coming in at hundreds more. It’s hard to justify spending that much on your hair if you are on a budget. And even if you’re not on a budget, it’s a lot of money to spend on your hair multiple times a year.
But before you get those scissors out for a home styling session, remember that you can get haircuts at London salons for next to nothing. With trainee haircuts starting from £3, you can certainly find a haircut for a snip (if you’ll pardon the pun!) of the usual price.
Get a haircut from a trainee
When getting a cheap haircut in London, you will usually be seen by a trainee, or a senior tutor who is demonstrating a certain cut of technique to a trainee (or trainees). This means that the haircut is likely to take between 3-4 hours, depending on the cut and or treatment that you are having. So make sure you have the time to dedicate to the cut before putting yourself forward to be a model. Usually, haircuts by trainees will cost much less than standard hair cuts, and you may even be able to get a free haircut in London when it’s cut by a trainee stylist.
Will I get a bad haircut from a trainee?
The key thing to remember is that trainees are always supervised whilst they are cutting hair. The reason that trainee haircuts can take 3-4 hours is because they must check every layer with their senior stylist before moving on. And if there is a wrong snip made? You can be sure that the supervisor will fix it.
The trainee is also likely to be on their absolute best behaviour if they are having their work checked by their boss. Remember, they will have observed countless haircuts and trained on fake hair before being deemed fit to work on a real head of hair.
So without further ado, here are 8 salons that offer very cheap haircuts and colours. You may recognise some of the names!
Toni and Guy Academy- St Giles
Address: 71-75 New Oxford St, London WC1A 1DG
Telephone: 020 7836 0606
Toni and Guy has got to be one of the biggest names in hairdressing- and luckily, you can get a haircut at their academy for a super cheap price. Cuts and colours are completed by trainees from Monday to Friday at 9.30am and 1.45pm. Haircuts cost £5, and colour from £20, which is just to cover the costs. Head to their website or call them on 020 7836 0606 to get a trainee appointment.
Vidal Sassoon Academy- Victoria
Address: 5 Ave Maria Ln, London EC4M 7AQ
Telephone: 020 3958 4000
The Vidal Sassoon Academy has been training the best of the best for decades- it’s possibly one of the most well-known academies in London. Trainee haircuts are between Mondays and Fridays at 9.15am and 1.15pm. You can pay from just £3 for a cut if you are a student nurse, and from £13 for anyone else.
If you were to go to a Vidal Sassoon salon, you could expect to pay between £66 and £150 for a haircut and finish. So to pay £13 is a serious saving! Head to their models wanted page to sign up.
Jo Hansford- Mayfair
Address: 48 S Audley St, London W1K 2QB
Telephone: 020 7495 7774
Jo Hansford has a reputation for being one of the best colourists in London- she hosts training school two nights a week. With colours on Wednesday nights, and cuts on Thursdays. A colour will cost around £20-35, and a cut will be around £10. Head to the website to make an enquiry.
Percy & Reed – Great Portland Street
Address: 157c Great Portland Street, London, W1W 6QS
Telephone: 02076374634
Percy & Reed have a trainee haircut offer once a week on a Monday. They do a full day of training in just haircuts. We spoke to Percy & Reed and they prefer to have people email them a headshot of themselves showing their hair, and what they would like. This gives their apprentices the chance to find the correct haircut they need for that specific training session, as this changes depending on the apprentice level.
These haircuts tend to be free of charge, which is incredible! You can enquire about booking a trainee haircut with Percy & Reed at the following email address, hello@percyandreed.com.
London School of Barbering- Liverpool Street
Address: 13 Artillery Ln, London E1 7HY
Telephone: 020 7404 0998
One for the boys, The London School of Barbering actually has slots for FREE haircuts with a Junior Barber Trainee, with Senior Barber Trainee cuts costing £3, and Master Barber Trainee cuts costing £3-6. Go to their website to book online and enter LTDA when booking to secure your free haircut.
London Hairdressing Apprenticeship Academy- Camden & Croydon
Address: 1A Hawley Rd, London NW1 8RP
Address (Camden): 45-46 Chalk Farm Rd, Chalk Farm, London NW1 8AJ
Telephone: 020 7267 5798
The London Hairdressing Apprenticeship Academy (LHAA) has several locations throughout London. To make an appointment, call the salons on the numbers listed on their website. A Level 2 cut and finish will be £10, and a Level 3 cut and finish will be £18.
Hob Academy- Camden Town
Address: unit 3b, 28 Jamestown Rd, London NW1 7BX
The Hob Academy is a training school based in Camden Town that offers model slots for their apprentice academy and their graduate academy. The model slots are available throughout the week from Monday-Friday, and you can head to their website to register your interest. Cuts are free and colour from just £15.
You will have a full consultation as though you are heading to a normal salon, but if you model for a seminar, remember that you will be required to have a big change or something creative done to your hair- so if that’s not for you, go for the apprentice or graduate options instead.
Rush Academy- Covent Garden
Address: 19 Bedford St, London WC2E 9HP
Telephone: 020 3957 5511
Rush Academy haircuts for women start at just £5, and haircuts for men are free! Colour is also available at this salon which is around £25 to cover the costs. Go to their website to fill out the form for models and someone will get back to you.
Blue Tit London- Clapton
Address: 121 Lower Clapton Rd, Lower Clapton, London E5 0NP
Telephone: 020 8985 3558
Blue Tit has model appointments available from Monday to Thursday- Haircuts are from £10 and colours from £20. Head to the model contact page on their website to book an appointment.
Use deal websites
When you’re thinking about how to get a cheap haircut in London, check sites like LivingSocial for deals on haircuts and blow dries- there are usually tons of them! You can often save well over 50% off the standard price, and you can even find deals on treatments and hair colouring too.
There are specifically lots of deals available in central London, but also in residential boroughs too. Check out LivingSocial for yourself- some deals offer as much as 80% off the original price so it’s well worth browsing the site.
Switch up your salons
If you’re living in London on a budget, switch up your salons to take advantage of ‘first-time-customer’ discounts. You could end up getting a great deal by switching your hairdresser every time you need a new cut. Use services such as Treatwell to browse different salons nearby, and take advantage of their frequent offers for new customers.
You can also redeem cashback with Treatwell, via TopCashback, and get up to a further 4.25% cashback on your appointment. It’s a great way to stack deals and discounts for a cheaper haircut all round!
Another top salon that offers a discount to customers, is Percy & Reed. When you head to their website and sign up to their newsletter, you can receive a 15% discount on your order.
And if you’d like to get your hair cut from the comfort of your own home? Check out Blow LTD who offer this service in London. Not only can you get up to £4.25 cashback on your order via TopCashback, but you can also make use of their £10 off voucher for new customers. It’s another win-win!
Ditch the big names
Head to an independent salon, who are more likely to have lower prices. Big name chains have a reputation to maintain, and spend large amounts of money on marketing and other overheads. By going to a smaller salon, not only will you be spending your money with a small business owner, you may also be spending less money on your haircut.
You could even head a little further out of town to get a cheaper haircut, as cuts in central London locations are likely to be more expensive than out of town. Pick out some London locations in Zone 4, 5 or 6 and check out the salon prices online. Some independent salons may not have a website, if this is the case, use Google Maps to locate the salons, and phone up to find out their price menu. You might be surprised to find that they are more affordable than you might imagine.
Look for junior stylists
When you’re trying to save money in London, you’ll want to try and cut back expenses wherever possible. That goes for the gym, your groceries, and your hair and beauty too. Check whether your regular salon has cheaper prices if a junior or trainee stylist cuts your hair instead of someone more senior- it doesn’t hurt to ask! Some salons will also have a ‘meet the team’ page on their website, which may disclose if there is a junior or trainee stylist on the team. If a trainee is listed as a member of staff, but there isn’t a trainee price listed on their price menu, ask to see if they offer a discount for a trainee or junior stylist hair cut.
A simple phone call will usually do the trick, and you can also ask any other questions that you might be curious about.
Stand by slots
Take advantage of getting your haircut on a weekday if possible- often salons will have ‘stand by’ slots available which can be cheaper than usual. If there’s a few salons near your home, or near your place of work, do some research and see if they offer this. It’ll be more convenient to pop in on your lunch break or after work if they are nearby.
Check online or in person. You might even find that a salon in your local area has a loyalty card! Which could mean even more savings on your future haircuts.
Student discount
If you’re a student in London? Check out which salons offer a student discount and use this to your advantage! Some will be listed in directories like your TOTUM student card app, however others might not advertise that they have a student discount.
Call up a salon that you’re interested in, or pop into a salon in person to ask if they do student discounts (make sure you ask what percentage of discount you’ll get!). Be sure to check if there are any T&Cs associated with the student discount. For example, you may only be able to redeem the discount on certain days, or in certain locations if you are getting a discount with a chain of hairdressers.